Tag Archives: fuel cell

Nothing illustrates the incremental nature of improving alternative energy methods better than the push to increase efficiency. Whatever the process, (chemical, solar, combustion) the more efficient the conversion of the energy source (sunlight, fuel, chemicals) into electricity, the better. With fuel cells, which convert a fuel source such as hydrogen or methane into electricity, it’s […]

Visions of catchy titles danced in my head: “Alternative energy turns over a new leaf,” for example. It sounds like a perfect story for a world growing ever more skittish about the future of energy. (As Fukushima continues to radiate danger and fuel prices head into economy busting territory.) The idea is to produce energy […]

Toyota FCHV (fuel-cell hybrid)…Credit: Masaru Kamikura When it comes to clean transportation – the proof is in the performance. There are literally scores of ‘green’ vehicles on the drawing-boards (actually, in a computer model) or in a prototype. Few, if any, of these will be seen on a public road. So when a major automobile […]

Sometimes one single thing makes the difference. For example, in the race to find alternative sources of energy, especially for transportation, hydrogen is seen as a potentially major source of fuel. Hydrogen is abundant in nature. It has a high energy output. It ‘burns’ cleanly. For most fuel cell and engine applications, hydrogen is created […]

Normally this would be a simple news item: Bloom Energy, Inc. (California, USA) introduces a new electric power producing fuel cell device – the Bloom Box. There would be some description: The Bloom Box uses inputs of methane-type fuel (from natural gas to bio-fuels), burns them at about 1000C, and with proprietary catalytic converters produces […]

At least for now it’s a military bird, but the “Ion Tiger” built by Protonex Technology Corporation, HyperComp Engineering, and Arcturus UAV for the United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is well on its way to demonstrating the practical application of fuel-cell technology in flight. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV = drone) recently eclipsed its […]